


Short 37 - Something Wonderful

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 3 - "Time Lord Penitent" [20]
Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 20:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11169789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Our narrator takes Liara to see something wonderful by bringing her to the Discworld.  Mind you, he didn't expect the tentacle monstrosity from the Dungeon Dimensions showing up.





	Short 37 - Something Wonderful

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on March 26th, 2015.

Liara wanted me to take her somewhere unique. Somewhere interesting. Somewhere she could never have imagined.  
  
And with that phrasing, you _know_ where I took her already, don't you?  
  
Unsurprisingly, we got to have an adventure when we got there.  
  
It was pandaemonium in the Great Hall of Unseen University as the drooling, oozing, many-tentacled form-shifting monstrosity from the Dungeon Dimensions slurped about, grabbing at student wizards and bledlows and staff with shrieking abandon. I was holding up my sonic disruptor and using its deflector shield setting to reinforce a magical barrier cast by my good friend Eskarina. "So, Liara is your Companion now, is she?", Esk asked. She looked me over. "Don't tell me, she has a girlfriend? It's something of a pattern with you..."  
  
"It's complicated, and I think now is not the best time," I responded with a hint, but just a hint, of irritation. I looked outside the field. Liara was across the Hall, shielding two of the Night Kitchen staff from the slobbering thing. "Liara!"  
  
"I'm fine!", she shouted, grimacing slightly while maintaining her biotic field. "Although this wasn't what I had in mind when I said something I couldn't imagine!"  
  
"Yes, well, occupational hazard here at the University," I called back. "Things from the Dungeon Dimensions do love exploiting every little pan-dimensional experiment. I shall have to give another lecture, I suppose." I felt pain shoot through my arm from the strain of holding the deflector against the largest of the asymmetrical creature's tentacles. It slurped something violently and shifted direction. "So, do we have a plan?"  
  
"Stibbons is getting a containment spell set up," Esk responded. "I'm not sure what Mustrum..."  
  
" _ALRIGHT EVERYONE! HERE WE GO!_ "  
  
Mustrum Ridcully's voice boomed across the Hall as he wobbled in with what looked to be a large bellows on his back and an artifice of some sort in his hands. I looked at it and when I saw the blue flicker at the end of the apparatus in his hand, realized what he was doing. "Wait, Mustrum, don't..."  
  
Before I could stop him, Ridcully squeezed a trigger mechanism that transferred force into the bellows. Multi-colored flame erupted from the nozzle and sprayed its way toward the monstrosity. It shrieked in protest from the flames.  
  
The temperature in the Hall spiked as the flames began setting everything, and I mean literally everything, alight. The burning, shrieking eldritch abomination added to this by setting more of the Hall on fire with its crazed movements.  
  
" _Invade my university, will you!_ ," Mustrum shouted. " _You picked the wrong Archchancellor to mess with, by Io!_ "  
  
The flames couldn't penetrate our shield or Liara's, but some of the heat got through and we felt like we were baking. While Mustrum's attack had certainly diverted the creature's attention, it had also turned a relatively stationary force into a writhing, screeching mass that started shifting its mass about in a way that showed it wasn't quite sure what to _do_ with that mass.  
  
Which meant that within moments, it had removed itself from the impromptu circle that Stibbon had been planning to use for the containment spell.  
  
"We've got to lure it back!", I shouted.  
  
Mustrum was backing up slowly as the creature loomed. The flame from his weapon began to die down suddenly. "What? Confound it all! II told them they weren't reading the Dwarvish right!", Mustrum protested as he found himself undefended against a flaming, enraged monstrosity that began tor each for him with its tentacles. With the flamethrower on and his pleasant stoutness of build working against him, there was no way for Mustrum to move out of the way quickly enough. One tentacle wrapped around his arms, the other around his legs, and he was bodily lifted. "Good heavens!", he shouted. "Stibbons! Stibbons, lad, it's about time for that field!"  
  
I was ready to move to Mustrum's defense, but flaming debris came from the ceiling and blocked my path for a critical moment. Even as I extinguished the flames with one of the settings of my disruptor, I knew I'd not make it in time.  
  
Biotic energy slammed into the creature's behind... or at least behind relative to Mustrum. It shrieked angrily again as the dark matter began to tear at its new corporeal body. Liara stood about ten feet away from me in the middle of the Hall, the flames and smoke just starting to obscure her from view. "Liara!", I shouted.  
  
The creature, its wrath re-directed, threw Mustrum back into the door. The bellows on his back burst and thick ebon fluid erupted from it, soaking his robes. The creature didn't turn. It just seemed to change its direction toward Liara. She backed up as it began throwing acidic slime and other nastyness at her, retaliating with more biotic attacks and the occasional singularity to draw in the slime projectiles before they could threaten her. She would give ground and the creature would take it eagerly.  
  
Which, of course, was what she wanted it to do.  
  
Stibbon was undoubtedly watching via crystal or something. The moment Liara had the creature back in the center of the Hall, magic formed around it. A powerful energy field, formed of octarine energy, coalesced into being around the shrieking monstrosity. It wasn't a classic energy field though; the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions ate magic right up. Rather the effect was purely physical, forcing kinetic energy back at the creature whenever one of its tentacles grabbed for something.  
  
With the creature contained Esk and I went to work putting down the flames. I noticed some fires going for where Liara was on hands and knees, tired from the biotic exertions she had just implemented. I rushed to her side and stifled the fires with trusty Setting 4HD. With a smile I offered Liara a hand. "Well done," I said.  
  
"Thank you," Liara answered. "Is he all right?"  
  
"Pride's a bit bruised, but he didn't catch fire or anything. Mustrum will be fine." I looked to where the creature was shifting and lashing out within the stasis field. The far doors opened and Ponder Stibbons entered with several other mid-ranking wizards, men of his age mostly. The elderly wizards of the faculty trailed far behind, ready to lend their expertise in putting down the flames and banishing the slurping, tentacled monstrosity back to its home domain outside of normal reality. "The banquet table!" I heard the Lecturer scream in anguish.  
  
Liara gave me a look. I smiled. "The priorities of some of the faculty here are... different than you'd expect."  
  
That actually made her laugh. Which turned into a cough from the smoke in the air. "Come on," I said. "Let's get some fresh air."  
  
  
  
  
The rest of the University was busy cleaning up with the aid of magic when Esk joined us at the TARDIS near the University entrance. This was her in her older days, white-haired and youthful face betraying some wrinkles of age. "Well, Doctor T'Soni." Esk offered a hand to Liara. "A pleasure to see you."  
  
Liara blinked. "Do I know you from somewhere?"  
  
A knowing smile crossed Esk's face. "Not yet," she offered. "The Doctor and I have different timestreams. Speaking of which..." Esk dug into her wizard robe. "Just where are we again?"  
  
I watched her pull out a book. A blue book. TARDIS blue, to be precise, although thankfully its cover wasn't designed to look like the TARDIS door. Esk flipped it open. "You've had my first meeting with you, right?"  
  
"Do you still turn people into ponies when you're aiming for asses?", I asked with a knowing grin. I looked to Liara. "Do remind me to take Glyph that Muntab mating totem some time."  
  
"Ah, good." She flipped pages. "What about the Tezuman Empire?"  
  
"Drawing a blank."  
  
"Bhangbhangduc?"  
  
"Did Lu Tze finish teaching that lord how to sweep properly?"  
  
Esk grinned. "Well, I think that gives me enough." she said, closing the book and returning it to her robe. She looked at Liara. "Take care of him, please, Doctor T'Soni. He doesn't always show it when he's hurt."  
  
Liara nodded in reply. We said nothing as Esk walked away.  
  
It was odd. Having several Companions already wasn't enough. In Esk it was like I had my very own River Song counterpart. Minus the marriage or the whole "time crunch" thing.  
  
But I couldn't be surprised. Esk could time travel on her own power. Of course she was going to be different from my usual allies and companions.  
  
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that Esk was going to play a special role at some point. And that, bless her heart, she already knew it.  
  
"So." Liara looked at me. "Where are we going next?"  
  
"Oh, lots of places out there. But first..." I stepped into the TARDIS. "I think you might enjoy a better view."  
  
  
  
  
The door to the TARDIS was open to the void of space. I stood beside Liara at the threshold as she stared at the sight before her. "By the Goddess," she said, astounded. "I... I thought you were exaggerating."  
  
Ahead of us, the Great A'Tuin was heading onward through space, four great cosmic pachyderms on A'Tuin's shell, and the Discworld resting comfortably on their backs and shoulders. A small star and moon were in mid-rotation above and below the Discworld as usual. "Quite the sight, isn't it?", I said, unable to keep the joy out of my tone.  
  
It was... insane. Totally, completely, utterly insane to imagine such a thing existing. But it did. It was there in front of us. If I were to change our angle to be above the Disc we might have even made out the faint lights of Hunghung, Ankh-Morpork, Genua....  
  
"How is this possible?", Liara asked. "I mean...."  
  
"Oh, quantum variability field. Or magic field. it's all spacey-wacey wibbly-wobbly high-dimensional physics involving exotic probability... stuff."  
  
"This is... this is..."  
  
" _Wonderful_ ," I finished for her. "That's how I always see it. Sure, it doesn't seem realistic, but eh, reality can be pretty crazy sometimes." I put a hand on her shoulder. "This is the wonder of the Multiverse, Liara, in all of its glory."  
  
She didn't respond. She was too busy taking in the sight. "Is there... more like this?"  
  
"Oh, plenty," I said, stepping back from the door. "I mean, not just Discworld. You've got all sorts of fantastic places. And that doesn't count scenic things like the Rings of Carina or the Obsidian Prisms, the Amethyst Cliffs...."  
  
Liara continued to stare at the Discworld. "I see," she said simply. There was a hint of joy in her voice. As if she was just starting to realize the scope of what was possible.  
  
I said nothing and simply enjoyed the sight of my newest Companion realizing how incredibly wondrous the whole of Creation was.


End file.
